Academy Award Preview: Best Animated, Foreign Film and Documentary Feature

 


The Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, April 25. The nominees were announced on Monday, March 15. Between now and the awards, I'll be previewing the different races. Today I'm looking at the Animated, Foreign Film and Documentary Feature races.

Best Animated Feature:
* Soul
* Onward
* Over the Moon
* Wolfwalkers
* A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

About: This is an interesting collection of five film. Two of them come from Pixar, and both were released on Disney+. One comes from Apple TV+ and two are on Netflix. All of them were made easy to reach audiences, and several of them have compelling and emotional stories. The pick here, for me, is Soul. It was perhaps the most high-profile film on this list, and it was the best. The production is strong but the story is also a delight. I think it's the overwhelming favorite here.

Best Documentary Feature:
* Collective
* Crip Camp
* My Octopus Teacher
* The Mole Agent
* Time

About: 2020 was an incredible year for documentaries. I saw some incredibly powerful and emotional stories that will stick with me. This category, shamefully, doesn't represent what I felt was a great year. I haven't seen Collective, the front-runner and a film that's supposed to be excellent, but the other four here are just OK. I am disappointed with the slate of nominees. That being said, Collective seems to have the momentum here and by all accounts is the best film in the group.

Best Foreign Language Feature:
* Collective
* Another Round
* Better Days
* Quo Vadis, Aida?
* The Man Who Sold His Skin

About: Collective gets the double nomination, but feels much more likely to take the win in the documentary feature category. This one has some interesting nominees, but the favorite has to be Another Round, led by Mads Mikkelsen and a film that earned Thomas Vinterberg a Best Director nomination. It was an engaging film and the one I predict will take this category.

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